Rangers belt 5 home runs in 16-1 rout of Royals  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rougned Odor and the rest of the Texas Rangers had been using the Kansas City Royals' beleaguered pitching staff for batting practice most of the sun-splashed afternoon.  —  Then the Rangers used their backup second baseman for it, too.

How the Nationals won a series for the first time in a month  —  WASHINGTON — Nothing has come easy for the 2019 Washington Nationals.  —  That includes simple tasks like ... winning a series.  On Thursday, the Nationals eked out a 7-6 victory over the visiting New York Mets, giving them their first series win in a month.

Detroit Tigers observations: The defense was bad, and then the game got embarassing  —  It hasn't been a good week for the Detroit Tigers.  —  They haven't won a game — and haven't even led for an inning — and were thoroughly shellacked again on Thursday afternoon by the Athletics, 17-3.

C. Martinez will join Cardinals in Texas  —  ATLANTA — The Cardinals will stay with 13 pitchers when they play an interleague series against the Texas Rangers at Arlington, Texas this weekend and one of them will be righthander Carlos Martinez.  —  Martinez returned to St. Louis after pitching …

Inconsistent White Sox welcome Jays for 4-game set  —  Cleveland Indians to two runs and two hits in a Chicago victory on Monday night.  —  The following afternoon, the Indians torched White Sox hurlers for nine runs behind a five-homer barrage.  —  Pitching has remained inconsistent as Chicago keeps pushing to reach the .500 mark.

Cincinnati Reds Beat Podcast: Breaking down the slow start and the slumping offense  —  Cincinnati.com's Bobby Nightengale and John Fay breakdown the Reds' slow start to the season, the offense's slump throughout the season and evaluate David Bell's managerial style.  —  How to listen:

Mariners recall outfielder Mallex Smith from Class AAA Tacoma, send down Shed Long  —  With the hope that his timing issues at the plate and mistakes in the field that seemed to follow are fixed, outfielder Mallex Smith will return to his center field spot for a Mariners team that desperately needs …

Is the .300 hitter a thing of the past?  —  The history of baseball is so remarkably well chronicled in both statistical and narrative forms that there are countless good stories through the eons that we've forgotten.  They happen every day, even now, events notable enough that they might lead …

What we think we know about the Arizona Diamondbacks with a quarter of the season gone  —  Given all the changes to the Diamondbacks roster over the winter, the first part of this season figured to be an exploration for answers to significant questions.  —  The quarter mark of the season just passed …

Bruce Willis bounces in first pitch before Phillies game  —  Actor Bruce Willis watched his ceremonial first pitch Die Hard in the air before it could make it to the plate prior to the Philadelphia Phillies' loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.  —  Willis walked out of the dugout to heave …

Ten things to know about new Rays catcher Travis d'Arnaud  —  For one, the name may sound familiar.  For another, he happened to be at the Trop for a pretty big moment in Rays history.  —  NEW YORK — There's an apartment in Manhattan with a rented couch waiting to be picked up, and a couple weeks of mail in the box to be collected.

‘This year is going to be the year’: Adbert Alzolay ready to make big-league debut  —  Adbert Alzolay on coming back to Iowa Cubs and his spring training injury  —  Cubs pitching prospect Adbert Alzolay can't help but think about what could have been in 2018 had injures not slowed him down and even cost him the end of his season.

Justin Verlander shines in Astros' win over Tigers  —  Having spent almost 13 seasons in Detroit, Justin Verlander was right at home Wednesday night, allowing two hits and two walks over seven innings as the Astros stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 5-1 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park.

Dodgers' Kenta Maeda carves up Padres behind dominant performance  —  The stuff has rarely wavered.  Since Kenta Maeda joined the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016, he has relied primarily on a fastball that he throws from between 90 and 93 mph, a slider ranging from 82 to 85 mph and a split-fingered change-up he throws between 83 to 86 mph.